Week 7: Panthers 27, Eagles 16

The details

Under the magnification of the Sunday night cameras, everything Cam Newton did seemed bigger in Carolina’s 27-16 win over Philadelphia that pushed the 6-0 Panthers to the best start in team history.

His touchdown run where he somehow extended the ball just over the goal line with one hand without allowing it to get swatted away? Bigger.

His three interceptions, two of which first glanced off the hands of wide receivers? Bigger.

His frantic, happy run he made after Mike Tolbert bounced off two tacklers to finish off a 2-yard touchdown pass? Bigger.

What the 6-0 Panthers have – and what they don’t have – was splashed across America.

As usual, Newton was at the center of it all. He played a game in which he never looked as sharp as he was in the fourth quarter against Seattle, but nevertheless he and his team still made enough plays to win. Again.

“We didn’t play our best brand of football tonight,” Newton said afterward, calling his three-interception night “lackluster.”

But, Newton added: “We’re just playing great team ball. ... We’re not satisfied with what we’ve done. We’re trying to conquer things that people said we couldn’t do.”

They said it

“We’re going to need all these wins. You see how competitive our division’s getting.” – Greg Olsen

“I kind of do (miss being thrown to). I’m not going to lie. At first I was like, man, but now I kind of do. I want to be a part of the game. Now it’s trying to find other ways.” – Josh Norman, who was targeted only once by the Eagles

“That speaks for itself, in my opinion, if they’re not going to throw his direction. You know, hey, that to me is the greatest sign of respect an offense can give someone.” – Panthers defensive coordinator Sean McDermott

The weirdness

On an Eagles encroachment call in the first half, Cam Newton flopped ridiculously to the ground. It was entertaining, if ineffective.

Hot takes

Tom Sorensen: A good locker room is made up of neighborhoods. Ric Flair’s “whoooos” are down there and also over there. Kony Ealy’s jump shot is there. Linebacker Thomas Davis, a team captain whom Josh Norman calls the cap-eee, is in the corner.

Norman, the hip-hop cowboy, is on one side of the locker room and across from him on the other side is Jared Allen, the famous veteran who in some ways introduced himself to the Panthers against the Eagles.

A good group, a winning group, can bring all the neighborhoods together until, on the field, there is only one.

“This team is good in all the right ways,” says Allen. “It’s the work ethic. It’s the culture that coach (Ron) Rivera provides. No one gets ahead of themselves. Throughout the whole game everybody is competing. Everybody’s holding everybody accountable.”

Joseph Person: Carolina Panthers free safety Kurt Coleman was doing an interview late Sunday night when he stopped in mid-thought and started dancing to a Drake song.

Two months into the NFL season, the Panthers’ dance party just keeps raging.

Jonathan Jones: There’s a connection between Ted Ginn Jr. and quarterback Cam Newton that can be seen on the field and felt off it. The two have lockers near one another and regularly joke around during the locker room portion open to the media.

And on the field it’s clear. Outside of tight end Greg Olsen, Newton doesn’t have a reliable receiver. Ginn has had his issues with drops, but he’s also been Newton’s most targeted pass-catcher after Olsen.

There may be younger options in Carolina; even less expensive options. Weekly there are questions of whether the Panthers will try to bring in more help at receiver.

But each week Ginn comes back to the field determined to make people remember his name.

This story was originally published January 9, 2016 at 3:00 AM with the headline "Week 7: Panthers 27, Eagles 16."